There is no Freedom of the Press in the north.

Posted by Jim on March 2, 2019

Targeted journalists resist bail censorship


Two Belfast-based journalists arrested after investigating collusion in
the North have complained that the PSNI tried to censor them over what
they can say about the arrests.

Lawyers for Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey sought to have the case
dropped, but they were instead questioned for three hours. They have
been accused of “stealing” confidential information relating to
collusion from the Office of the Police Ombudsman, which had been
provided anonymously to them. They have been on police bail since last
year.

“They tried to impose two conditions on us: one that we were not to talk
publicly about the case and, two, that we were not to approach
witnesses,” said Mr Birney.

“After our legal team raised concern they dropped condition one but they
stuck to condition two,” he said, adding that they had no interest in
approaching witnesses “given that one of them is the chief suspect”.

The two journalists were arrested last August, when their homes and
offices were searched, following the broadcast of their documentary
about the Loughinisland killings, No Stone Unturned.

The film investigated the killings of six men in the Heights Bar in
Loughinisland, County Down, as they watched a World Cup game between
the Republic of Ireland and Italy, and the police collusion that took
place.

The High Court heard this week that the PSNI are attempting to “keep a
lid” on material connected to the Loughinisland massacre after it
emerged the PSNI were censoring sections of documents which feature in
the journalists’ case as part of efforts to preserve secrecy.

Mr Birney queried why police were persisting with the case. “It is all
rather strange and weird; it is trying to bolt the door after the horse
has bolted.”

On the condition about not approaching witnesses, Mr Birney said:
“There are no witnesses to a theft because there was no theft. We have
not stolen anything and we are not guilty of stealing anything.”

In May the Belfast High Court is due to hear a challenge from Mr Birney
and Mr McCaffrey about the legality of search warrants issued during
the investigation.

The National Union of Journalists assistant general secretary Séamus
Dooley said Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey were “being punished because
they have exposed brutal human rights abuses”.

Calling for “legal threats, harassment and intimidation” to stop, he
said: “A free press is critical to the health of democracy and freedom
of expression is a fundamental human right.”

Amnesty’s Patrick Corrigan said the arrests of the two widely respected
journalists Ireland “has sent a shiver of fear through the region”.

“When police are arresting journalists who have investigated police
collusion in the killing of civilians, rather than the killers and
those who helped them get away with murder, people everywhere should be worried,” he said.

* In an unrelated development, Saoradh executive member Alan Lundy has
been released on police bail under highly restrictive conditions
following his controversial arrest last week.